Majoraa
op2024
twave
CitrusArms
Shinny
FaithfulMuse
Lime
Villamvihar
Shadow Dragon
BrokenPromise
Connie was broken out of her musings by an exuberant cheer from Mayra, telling her that she was awesome. While the timid girl herself might not have thought that the power to make people suffer from horrific nightmares was particularly awesome, the fact that her draconic friend did, and was so boisterously vocal about it, nonetheless succeeded in bringing a small smile to the face of Connie’s mask. Thank you, Mayra, she told the dragon girl silently, while placing a hand over her heart to savor the feeling of warmth that now flowed into it, a warmth which thoroughly melted away the cold spikes of dread engendered by the soldiers’ cries of anguish. In fact, she couldn’t even hear them at all…
A moment later, she realized why.
Turning to look at Mayra, and perhaps give a wave of thanks to her draconic friend, Connie saw that not only had the playful pyromaniac jetted away, but the squad she fired her nightmare pulse at appeared utterly unaffected by the terrifying spell.
“W-What…?” Connie stammered as she took in the unexpected sight. T-Those screams… Were they all just in my head…?
For her part, Gaia had seen exactly what had transpired, as well as the likely explanation for it, knowledge that brought an annoyed frown to her verdant face. “Those soldiers are just meat puppets,” she explained. “Mindless automatons being controlled remotely, probably via their helmets,” she added, pointing to to one of the headless soldiers and the empty helmet laying next to it. “I’m sorry, Connie, but I don’t think your magic will have any effect on them.”
Although a part of her was actually relived that she hadn’t inflicted any suffering upon the attacking troops, Connie was still saddened by the fact that she would be unable to help in defending the town, which even now was coming under additional attack, as the enemy’s long-ranged artillery began their bombardment.
Great, they’re using fucking artillery now?!
“How absolutely horrid!” the Angel cried. “To unleash such indiscriminate violence… My heart aches at the sight!” Raising her glowing staff high, she took a moment to focus her power, before declaring, “Fear not, my noble companions! This humble servant shall ensure that no further harm comes to this tranquil village! Radiant Angelic Aegis!”
With that, a blinding pulse of energy shot into the heavens, before expanding into a shimmering dome, which completely covered the town.
That should protect this dump for a little while, at least, but these losers seriously need to pick up the pace, or those headless freaks are gonna overwhelm us…
Fortunately, this would soon be facilitated by the arrival of two new allies, although their identities were completely unknown to anyone present. Unfortunately, while the first member of the newly arrived pair was doing a respectable job eliminating the enemy tanks, the second seemed to have stumbled into a patch of Gaia’s enhanced foliage…
Blast… the verdant maiden winced. I had not anticipated any allies suddenly appearing in that area, let alone being so unobservant as to run straight through my plants…
“The poor thing!” the Angel cried, placing her hands over her heart at the sight. “To suffer such tragic misfortune, all while in the pursuit of providing aid to others! It is simply too painful to behold!”
Holy fuck… What a dumbass… Is she fucking blind? I mean, who the hell doesn’t notice a six foot tall Venus flytrap? (sigh…) Whatever… I guess I should help her moronic ass out…
Conjuring a winged sphere of glowing energy, the Angelic beauty sent it racing off to bestow a healing blessing upon Eliana. “Swiftly now, little one!” she bade the sphere. “Hasten to the aid of our most misfortunate ally and restore her to full health once more!”
Meanwhile, Connie, realizing that she could offer no further assistance with repelling the invading forces, had resolved to apply herself to the only other task she was capable of undertaking. Clenching her fist with determination, the masked maiden made her way to the back edge of the roof.
“I-I’m g-gonna go h-help Lily and the o-others evacuate the t-town!” she told Gaia as she slid down her friend’s beanstalk.
“Just be careful, little sister!” Gaia called after her.
“I-I will!”
Hurrying to the nearest unchecked house, Connie actually found herself thankful for the effects of the sleep spell. After all, she doubted anyone would react favorably to having their house broken into by a young woman who looked like she had just stepped off of the set of a horror movie…
Or out of the depths of a nightmare…
* * *
Chapter Two-
A Nightmare to Remember
A Nightmare to Remember
* * *
Cold…
Darkness…
Pain…
Horrors beyond imagining…
And then…
“Princess?” a familiar voice inquired. “Are you all right?”
“P-Penny Wenny…?” MDP asked hesitantly, unsure of where she was, or what was happening.
“You spaced out for a moment there,” the mechanical monarch explained. “I know your attention has a tendency to wander when you’re like this, but you looked… frightened. Is everything okay?”
Taking a moment to get her bearings, the Princess of Dreams saw that she was sitting on her girlfriend’s lap, atop a shining, ultratech throne. A similarly advanced-looking chamber surrounded them, filled with dozens of cute stuffed animals in a variety of vibrant colors, and featuring panoramic windows, beyond which rose the sparkling spires of a futuristic, but still quite whimsical skyline. The sight caused a torrent of memories to flood into her mind. This was Penrose, the most advanced, beautiful and peaceful city on Earth, now that Wonderland had been defeated and the Mint had been driven off the planet. With Covington Industries’ backing, Penny’s queenship had become officially recognized, with Penrose becoming a fully independent city state, and all the various factions had come together to build a bright future for everyone, whether magical girl, monster girl, or mundane citizen. Love and friendship had truly won the day, as if there had ever been any doubt. Everything was perfect, everyone was happy, and Magical Dream Princess was the happiest of all.
“Like, everythingy wingy is totally wotally super duper okey dokie~! (giggle!)” MDP replied with a bright smile. “She gets to cuddle wuddle with her most favorite wavorite person werson in the whole wide worldsie, after allsie~! (giggle!)” she added with a playful wink, before gently nuzzling her girlfriend’s cheek.
“Glad to hear it,” Penny said with an amused chuckle. “Wouldn’t want my Princess to ever stop being her adorable self,” she added with a smile of her own as she stroked her girlfriend’s cheek. “After all,” the mechanical monarch continued, her voice taking on a darker tone. “It was only thanks to your profoundly childish idealism and naiveté that I was even able to reach such a lofty pinnacle in the first place.”
At this, MDP frowned, her eyes widening in shock and confusion. “P-Penny Wenny…? W-What do you mean?”
“Not surprised I have to spell it out for you,” the mechanical monarch sighed. “You are rather stupid in this form, although I imagine you would have a hard time wrapping your little brain around the truth even if you did have access to your full mental faculties,” she added with a condescending sneer. “We both know your infantile romanticism is not limited to your time as Magical Dream Princess.”
MDP was beginning to cry now, but she didn’t utter a sound. Indeed, the poor girl was stunned speechless.
“I never loved you ‘Princess’,” Penny stated, her voice as cold as steel. “Furthermore, I am incapable of even experiencing that flawed emotion. However, I can simulate it well enough, especially if all I needed to do was fool a babyish brat like you. When I became aware of your pitiful feelings for me, I knew I had found the perfect means by which to facilitate my ascension. Your wealth, your influence, your web of contacts, your willingness to befriend anyone, regardless of affiliation or appearance, all these things provided the foundation upon which I could build my empire. And now, ‘Princess’, now that you have allowed me to assume complete control of this city, and, by extension, this world, I shall allow you to watch as I carry out my final royal edict.”
With a wave of her hand, Penny brought up an array of holodisplays, each one showing a different part of the bustling city. As she gazed upon them, her eyes began to glow an ominous crimson.
“All that has been built,” she intoned, while holding out an open palm to gesture at the various displays. “Shall now be destroyed.”
Closing her hand into a fist, the images on each display exploded into scenes of violent destruction. Swirling torrents of nanites burst from the ground to viciously disassemble all in their path, magical, mundane, and inanimate object alike. Buildings crumbled, people dissolved or were messily torn apart, roiling thunderheads obscured the sky, while bolts of crimson lighting and pitch-black vortices fell upon the ravaged city, laying waste to all below. Even the very earth itself buckled and heaved with savage tectonic fury. Dark chasms yawned wide, while gouts of infernal flame shot into the heavens, punching jagged holes in the churning clouds above.
“W-Why are you doing this?!” MDP cried in horror, tears streaming down her trembling face as she watched the agonizing deaths of so many people, so many friends. “Why?!”
“Because it is my purpose,” Penny stated flatly. “I am a living weapon, an engine of destruction, an instrument of annihilation. Mine is the hand that will snuff out the very stars themselves,” she declared, even as the chamber around them was torn asunder, the various cute plushie creatures being brutally sliced apart like vegetables in a blender, even as they tried to run for their lives.
Yet, even as everything around them wasted away, Penny herself only seemed to grow larger. She towered over the city, then the continent, then the planet, until she had assumed a size that was practically beyond comprehension. Her form had shifted as well, becoming something utterly eldritch and horrifying beyond belief. A true machine goddess. An unmaker of realities. Now standing in the center of Penny’s vast palm, MDP could see that the colossal being her girlfriend had become held an equally colossal hammer in her other hand, one seemingly composed of cosmic energy and poised to strike the convulsing planet below…
MDP’s mind reeled. She could barely conceive what was happening, let alone accept its reality. It couldn’t be happening, she told herself over and over. But it was…
“NO!!!” she screamed. “Please stopy wopy! Pretty pretty please stopy wopy!” she begged, while sobbing ever more hysterically with each passing second.
However, if Penny heard her desperate pleas, she gave no sign. Pulling the gargantuan hammer back, she brought the cosmic weapon down upon the helpless planet with enough force to completely shatter it into a cloud of molten fragments, which swiftly spun off into the void.
“NOOOO!!!!” MDP shrieked, falling to her knees in utter despair. “T-They’re all gonesie wonsie…” She whimpered. “T-They’re all gonesie wonsie…”
“It is done,” Penny announced.
“W-Why…?” MDP’s plaintive voice whispered, her head bowed, tears dripping onto the cold metal beneath her. All her hopes, all her dreams, everything and everyone she had ever loved, were now little more than dust. She had nothing left, except pain… and anger… Her head shot up, red, tear-filled eyes fixing the machine goddess with a look of utter fury. “Why did you make Magical Dream Princess watch that?!” she roared, her hoarse voice filled with rage. “Why did you make Magical Dream Princess hurt so muchy wuchy?! She wuved you, Penny Wenny!” the anguished girl cried as she repeatedly smashed her fists into the hard surface of the technomantic titan’s palm until they were bruised and bloody. “SHE WUVED YOU!!!”
“That is precisely the reason,” Penny replied, her tone one of utter disinterest, as if she had just killed an ant, instead of over seven billion people. “As a token of appreciation for all the assistance you provided, I have chosen to make you the very last thing I destroy. We will travel the universe together, and you will watch as I snuff out the life of every planet and star. But you will not need your body for this,” she added as several writhing tendrils of nanites rose up around MDP and began breaking down her flesh and bones, disassembling the girl at the molecular level. “Merely your eyes to see it, your ears to hear it, and your soul to feel it.”
MDP screamed.
She screamed as her voice shifted into the synthetic sounds of an old modem’s dial tone.
She screamed as her lungs and vocal cords dissolved.
And when she no longer had a mouth, she screamed in the depths of her tortured mind.
“NO!NO!NO!NO!NO!NO!NO!NO!NOOOOOOOOO!!!!!”
…
…
…
“N-No… No…” Violet whimpered softly.
“Violet?” A concerned voice asked. “What’s wrong?”
“P-Penny…?”
“Yes, I’m right here,” the robotic girl confirmed, while gently running her fingers through Violet’s hair. “There’s nothing to be afraid of.”
Taking stock of her situation, Violet realized that she and Penny were in her bed chamber at Covington Tower, lying in her bed. She recalled all the various arrangements she had made to allow for this little “sleepover”. She had spent a wonderful evening with her girlfriend, had gone to sleep in her protective embrace. She had been so happy, and yet….
“I… I think I had a nightmare…” Violet told her girlfriend shakily, still somewhat unsure of what exactly had happened.
“Must admit, that’s somewhat ironic, all things considered,” Penny noted wryly, although her eyes were still filled with concern.
“It’s perplexing as well,” Violet added, while slowly sitting up. “I do not recall having had a single nightmare since becoming Magical Dream Princess. Although I suppose it was only a matter of time…”
“Not really an expert on such things, but maybe you should talk with Amanda about it,” Penny suggested.
“Yes, that sounds like a good idea,” Violet agreed, giving her girlfriend an appreciative smile.
“Now then, why don’t you try and get some more sl-e!e!e!e!e!e!e!e!e!” Suddenly, Penny’s voice began glitching like a broken record, while her body violently spasmed as arcs of obsidian lightning crackled over it.
“Penny?!” Violet cried in alarm, her eyes going wide.
“Finally got ‘er,” A smug, and all-too-familiar voice declared. “Gotta say, this was way easier than I thought it’d be,” the voice added. “And it’s all thanks to you, Miss Covington.”
Whipping her head around to the far side of the chamber, Violet saw an inhumanly tall, broad shouldered figure emerge from the shadows, a smoldering cigar chomped between monstrously sharp teeth.
“Scarp!” She gasped, before her visage took on a look of utter fury. “Stop this at once!” she commanded. “You’re hurting her!”
“No can do, Miss Covington,” Scarp replied with a cruel smirk. “And that’s kinda the point,” he added. “She’s gotta learn her lesson for tryin’ to cross The Mint, an’ so do you.”
“V-V-V-V-V-V-V-Violet…!” Penny stammered as her body contorted unnaturally, a look of fear filling her eyes that Violet had never seen before.
“Penny! Hold on!” the heiress begged her girlfriend.
There was a flash of light, and Violet was now in her magical girl form, her whimsical wand pointed at the coin broker.
“Let her go RIGHT NOWIE!!!” she snarled as her wand charged with mystic power.
“Or you’ll do what, exactly?” Scarp asked with an amused chuckle.
“Or Magical Dream Princess will send you to dreamy weamy land for ever and ever and ever!”
“You will do no such thing,” a stern voice declared.
Turning to look in the direction of the door, Violet was stunned to find the disapproving visage of her father, Thane Covington.
“D-Daddy Waddy?!” she gasped. “W-What are you doing heresie?!”
“I should think the answer to that question should be perfectly obvious,” her father replied, his voice suffused with contempt. “I am preventing my daughter from making a childish fool of herself. Now then, you will dispense with this fanciful nonsense at once, is that understood?”
“B-But Violet Wiolet wuvs being Magical Dream Princess!” the distraught girl protested. “Please don’t make her stopy wopy!” she begged tearfully. “Pretty pretty please!”
“Utterly disgraceful!” her father snapped, causing the transformed heiress to flinch as if she had been slapped in the face. “After all I did for you, after all the promise you showed… To think that you would throw it all away for an infantile fantasy like this, for a soulless machine like her,” he added, gesturing to where Penny continued to writhe in torment. “You are such a profound disappointment to me, Violet.”
“N-No… I-I’m sorry Daddy Waddy… I-I d-didn’t mean…”
“Vi-Vi-Vi-Vi-Vi-Vi-Viiiiiolet…!” Penny pleaded. “H-H-H-H-e-e-e-l-l-l-lp…!”
“Penny Wenny!” Violet cried, her head snapping back to her suffering girlfriend. “I-I’m t-trying, b-but I…”
“Absolutely pitiful.”
“Heh, nothin’ but a helpless baby.”
“Vi-Vi-Vi-Vi-Vi-Vi-Vi-Vi-Vi…!”
“N-No… P-Please…” Violet begged, falling to her knees and pressing her trembling hands over her ears.
“Shameful.”
“Awww, is the little baby gonna cry now?”
“Vi-Vi-Vi-Vi-Vi-Vi-Vi-Vi-Vi…!”
“P-Please stopy wopy…”
“Unforgivable.”
“What a loser…”
“Vi-Vi-Vi-Vi-Vi-Vi-Vi-Vi-Vi…!”
“P-Please… P-Please… P-Please… Just…
STOOOOOOOOOOOOOP!!!”
…
…
…
“S-Stop… S-Stop…” Violet whimpered, even as she felt strong hands pull her from her confinement and into a firm embrace.
“It’s okay Violet,” A soothing voice told her. “You’re safe now.”
“P-Penny… W-Wenny…?” Violet asked weakly.
“Yes,” the robotic girl confirmed. “I’m right here.”
Slowly opening her eyes, Violet saw that she was now being embraced by her girlfriend, and with all the feeble strength that remained in her aching body, the heiress pressed herself tightly against the mechanical monarch’s chest, tears streaming down her cheeks.
“I came to rescue you as soon as I discovered you’d been taken,” Penny explained, while gently stroking the back of Violet’s head. “And I’m not the only one. Amanda’s here, too.”
“A-Amanda…?” Violet echoed, struggling to catch a glimpse of her best friend over Penny’s shoulder.
“She’s making sure Nykannis will never be able to do anything like this to anyone else ever again.”
Violet could see how the fragments of a dream barrier clashed against what made up the Lab's sky. She could see how whimsical characters, whether they were transmutated from Nykannis' creations or summoned from Amanda herself clashed with what chilling inventions remained. And a distance away, she could see the bespectacled magician herself, locked in combat with the true form of the mad doctor. Had she ever seen her friend so furious? Driven by a vengeful bloodlust? Though she still paled in comparison to Dr. Nykannis's power, she was pouring both mana and vitality into her assault. And she bled for it. Her mouth and nose dripped with blood, and soon her eyes would as well, as if they were tears.
“W-We have to help her…!” Violet gasped as she saw the state her friend was in.
“You need to recover your strength,” Penny replied. “I will assist her in dealing with Nykannis…”
Holding Violet close with one arm, the mechanical monarch activated her jet thrusters, while her other appendage morphed into a massive gauss cannon. With a series of mighty thunderclaps, it fired a torrent of ultra-dense spikes at speeds exceeding the light barrier, projectiles which sliced through all the eldritch scientist’s myriad defenses and ripped apart vast swaths of her monstrous cybermagimechanical body.
“They’re sheathed in a focused nullification field,” Penny explained. “Nykannis isn’t the only one who can use her enemies’ tricks against them,” she added with a savage smirk.
Now Nykannis was on even ground with her opponent. No, with this she was nothing but child's play in Amanda's sadistic eyes.
...Or that might just be the blood loss getting to her head. Either way.
She bore a violent grin as she, with her remaining strength, reached her hand out and summoned a volley of swords; from mythos and legends alike to sever Nykannis limb by limb, to reduce her down to naught.
The eldritch ultratechnomantic monstrosity that was Nykannis screamed in a mixture of agony and rage as Amanda’s dream blades sliced her asunder, down to her constituent atoms, until absolutely nothing remained. Once the Monarch of Mad Science’s last dying cries had faded away, Penny hovered over to float beside Amanda.
“Quite the impressive display,” the robotic girl commended.
“Y-Yes,” Violet agreed, somewhat taken aback by her friend’s ferocity. “B-But you look badly hurt,” she added, her voice filled with concern. “Y-You should let Penny carry you, too.”
“Wouldn’t be too sure of that,” Penny noted. “Your friend here is tougher than she looks, and I’m pretty sure she wants to finish taking her anger out on the rest of this lab,” the mechanical monarch added. “I know I certainly do…”
Amanda wiped the blood off her face with her sleeve. "This is nothing. Not the first time I resorted to blood magic." Her grin shrunk back to normal. She then focused her sights on the remnants of the lab. "I'll be back. Keep her safe, will ya?" She turned to step away, dream magic swirling into her palm.
“That’s some friend you’ve got there,” Penny remarked as Amanda set about unmaking what little remained of Nykannis’s lab.
“Yes, she is,” Violet confirmed, smiling fondly as tears continued to trickle down her cheeks. “And so are you,” she added, turning to face her girlfriend and giving her an affectionate hug. “I’m so lucky to have such wonderful friends. Thank you for saving me, Penny, from the bottom of my heart.”
“You’re more than welcome,” Penny replied with a tender smile of her own. “I only wish I could have prevented this from happening in the first place…”
“It’s okay,” Violet reassured her, gently placing a hand on the robotic girl’s cheek. “I’m safe now, and that’s all that matters.”
“Suppose I can’t argue with that,” Penny conceded. “Come on,” she added, activating her thrusters and flying them through a portal into Amanda’s dream dimension. “Let’s get out of here.”
Landing atop a small, floating hill, Violet marveled at the tranquil dreamscape surrounding them. “You know, this is actually the first time I’ve ever been inside this place,” the heiress remarked. “It’s so peaceful and serene…”
“I’m told there are more dangerous areas,” Penny explained. “But this is one of the calmer sections.”
“Mmmm…” Violet agreed, closing her eyes as a soothing breeze caressed her face. “It’s actually rather romantic, don’t you think~?” she added with a smile, before leaning in and giving her girlfriend a passionate kiss.
For several wonderful seconds, all of Violet’s worries were washed away by a flood of blissful affection. What lingering pain and soreness remained in her body now dissolved in the warmth of her girlfriend’s love. Lips locked, arms wrapped around one another, comfort and safety were all Violet knew, until…
Until the embrace tightened to the point that it was painful, suffocating, while the tender kiss became something far more violent and savage…
Opening her eyes in alarm, Violet saw to her horror that it was no longer Penny standing before her, but rather Oros…
Something wrestled its way past Violet’s tongue and slid down her throat. It filled her mouth and throat completely. Closing her mouth wasn’t an option. Spitting wasn’t an option. Breathing wasn’t an option. She couldn’t tell if Oros was entering her lungs or her stomach, only that it was uncomfortable. Then, just when she was on the verge of passing out, Oros pulled herself out of Violet and let her fall to her knees. Oros’s tongue was starting to return to its original shape. The large gray mass hanging out of her mouth shrunk and became pink in color.
"Whoa!" Oros blinked. She had her arms wrapped under Violet’s, which was the only reason why she didn’t completely fall over. Though that might have been preferable to remaining in Oros’s arms. "Penny was me the entire time? Now that is a wild plot twist! Exactly the sort of bullshit twist I’d expect the Grand Magistrate to pull on me!"
Coughing, gagging, and fighting off the urge to vomit, Violet tried to push herself away from the pink-haired beast girl, but Oros’s grip was much too strong.
“G-Get away from me, you sick freak!” the heiress screamed in appalled disbelief upon finally regaining her ability to speak. “W-What are you even doing here?!” she demanded, eyes filled with terror. “What did you do to Penny?!”
"Wha?" Oros raised an eyebrow. Just as silence started to set between the two, she cackled like an asylum patient. "How am I supposed to answer that? You’re still dreaming, Alice. Dreaming a very, very vivid dream." She lifted Violet up to eye level. Her feet were floating off the ground and there was no space between them. "But I wonder if that actually matters? I mean, you know how none of us really exist anyway? I’m being controlled by my original patron right now, so there’s virtually no difference between the ‘real’ me and the ‘fake’ me. I can’t live through my experiences, and I’ll know about this one because of my sword, so in a roundabout way this nightmare really is happening!" Oros nodded to herself.
As she listened to the pink-haired lunatic babble, Violet’s confusion only grew. This… This was all just a dream, or rather, a nightmare? That certainly explained how things had taken such a warped and horrifying turn…
"And it doesn’t matter to you either! I mean, Penny’s just a robot. She murdered the human part of herself and fused with the corpse to get all that power without having a pesky soul. So if you can fall in love with an artificial person, someone you know is artificial, then there’s no difference between reality and fiction for either one of us! "
“Murdered?” Violet echoed, her tone now one of enraged indignation. “Penny would never harm an innocent, let alone kill them! And while Penny may be an artificial life form, she’s still a real person, while you yourself claim to be nothing more than a twisted figment of my imagination, just a subconscious fear brought to a pitiful mockery of life!”
"And yet you thought of me enough to bring me here, even though our interaction lasted seconds. But I’m glad you found it unforgettable." Oros hummed. "As for what happened to Penny here, well, what can I say? Our fights are always exciting but she isn’t exactly the pinnacle of strategy. Her desire to preserve herself is pretty high, guess the law of robotics doesn’t apply to her. When Endless Eclipse was hovering over her head she begged me not to kill her. She offered me her kingdom, my ship, even herself. But one of the first things she offered me was you."
At Oros’s latest claim, Violet’s face contorted into a look of utter fury. “There’s no way I would ever believe that!” she snarled. “Penny is the most selfless person I know! Everything she does is to help others! To give them security and peace! All you exist to do is bring pain and misery! Besides,” she added with a contemptuous glare. “If this really is a nightmare, if I’m actually still trapped in that maniac’s lab, then why should I give a single ounce of credibility to any of the insane ramblings coming out of your disgusting mouth?!”
"Because that means that right now, this very second, you aren’t really arguing with me." The smile ran from Oros’s face. "You’re arguing with yourself, and everything I say is just some repressed thought you couldn’t keep down during your waking hours." She squinted her eyes. "This is a nightmare precisely because you think it could happen. Because Penny is a cannibal, because you’re one of many girls she’s had access to, because she can’t keep control. And as strong as she is, you know that there are stronger ones out there. Nobody looks at the throne and thinks she belongs there cept for you."
That… That couldn’t be true… Could it…? Could she really, secretly, be afraid of Penny? It seemed absolutely absurd, and yet…
“All right… Perhaps I am scared of what might happen,” Violet conceded. “But those things are only possibilities, simply amorphous fears, not immutable guarantees of what will actually take place. Penny may have problems, may have done things in her past she may not be proud of, but the same can be said of me, of anyone! And I’d like to think that, by being at her side, I can help her face whatever challenges lie ahead. Because together, I know we can overcome anything the future has in store.”
"That’s very touching. It’s just a little unfortunate that she isn’t here right now. But hey, did you know that Nykannis believes that every possibility is happening in a different reality? If she’s right, it really doesn’t matter what this all is, because if it’s not real here, it’s real somewhere else. But it’s gotta suck to be in one of the realities where you don’t get saved huh?"
Violet opened her mouth to speak, but she was stricken with a piercing pain. Like something in her stomach just rammed a knife into her intestines. When she looked down at her stomach to see what had happened, violet noticed that she had started to bloat. Her body was pushing against her dress.
"Oh? That was fast!" Oros released Violet and let her fall onto her back. Despite her attempts to move, her body would not respond. She had also become numb all over, but could still feel some things wrestling around inside her.
”What’s your favorite animal? Bunnies? Bears? Mantis shrimp? Dogs are cool too. But for me, it’s gotta be the wasp. " With a sigh, she put her hands on her hips. ”I’m sure I’m just infodumping here, ‘cuz you’re a smart girl and probably already know this. But most wasps lay their eggs inside other insects. Usually cockroaches and other invasive pests like that. I’m sure they’d target a bratty rich kid if they got big enough." Oros kneeled down beside Violet. She didn’t make eye contact with her, instead choosing to speak at something in the distance. ”But my absolute favorites are the ones in genus Glyptapanteles! It’s really interesting how they work. First they find a caterpillar and inject eighty or so eggs directly into their flesh. As soon as those eggs hatch the larva begin feeding on the host. But they are very careful about it. They don’t eat any of the hosts organs, and avoid anything that might cause them to bleed internally. And once they’ve matured…"
Several larva bored out of her body. Each one rocking her in the direction it emerged from. They were roughly half the size of her forearm and they came out flailing like tentacles. Not only that, but they came out everywhere. They spilled out her sleeves, wrestled their way past her shirt collar, and her pantyhose filled with them as they left. Oddly, not a spec of Violet’s blood had been spilled.
”The paralysis should be wearing off soon." Oros picked up one of the larva and cradled it in her arms. ”They don’t even harm the host when they depart. In fact, the host helps protect the larva after they’ve emerged. The caterpillar sprays them with silk webbing and protects them from predators. It’s almost like they’ve become a parent to the young wasps." She ruffled her nose. ”We’ll skip silk weaving. This is already starting to feel like some weird fetish shit, isn’t it?"
Violet couldn’t help but whimper in pain as the larva churned around inside her spasming body, Oros’s ramblings barely registering in her horrified mind. Then they began bursting out of her, and her whimpers turned to screams. She should have been used to such anguish by now, especially after having caustic boils and shards of jagged crystal erupt from her flesh, but this was something altogether different, and substantially more disgusting…
It took every ounce of of her strength to keep from vomiting, but somehow she managed. Perhaps it was the “paralysis” Oros had mentioned? In any case, once the last of the seemingly countless larva had emerged, Violet’s exhausted body collapsed in a sweaty heap.
“S-S-o… y-you… w-want to… p-play house… i-is that it?” she asked between ragged gasps for breath, her pained voice still filled with fierce determination. “F-Fine… by me…”
”Glad you know you’re mine." She patted Violet’s head. ”You were wasted on Penny anyway. I mean look at you! You’re all tough and stuff. I really hope it holds out."
One of the larva slithered out of Violet’s panty hose and onto her stomach. The flesh colored creature was still expanding, and it wasn’t long until it was larger than her stomach. Then with a pop, the larva split down the middle. Then it cried like a baby.
”Our first kid!" Oros reached into the husk of the larva and pulled out a baby girl. ”Look! She has your eyes, and my hair!” Oros held the baby in front of Violet. ”What do you want to name her?”
Strangely, Violet seemed completely unbothered by the “birth” that had just taken place on her stomach. In fact, after slowly getting up into a sitting position, her mouth curled into a smirk. “How about… Amanda?”
At that, the child vanished from Oros’s grasp in a burst of lavender energy, before reappearing at Violet’s side, where she grew into a perfect copy of Amanda’s magical girl form, her pastel-colored outfit materializing in a swirl of glowing particles.
“I should actually thank you, Oros,” Violet told the psychotic beast girl as Amanda helped her to her feet. “Because of you, I now know what this place truly is, and I just realized that the only power it can ever have over me is what I choose to allow it to have. I may not be able to transform out there, but I am still Magical Dream Princess, and that means, in here, I make the rules!”
With a flash of obnoxiously pink light, the heiress assumed her magical girl form, her cute wand raised to point at Oros. Or rather, behind her…
“Rule number wumber onesie~!” Violet declared, holding up a single finger high above her head. “Penny Wenny’s always walways in my heart, so she’s, like, always walways in my dreamy weamies, too~! (giggle!) In facty wacty, she’s right over theresie~!”
Turning around, Oros was met with a fist striking her with enough force to cave her face in, although she would only suffer the injuries someone in a whimsical cartoon might. And while such an attack would normally send her flying, Penny was stomping down on one of her feet, pinning her in place so that the mechanical monarch could keep pummeling her with a barrage of blows, as if she was some comical punching bag.
“Rule number wumber twosie~!” the transformed heiress continued, holding out two fingers to form a peace sign. “Meanie weanie heads aren’t allowed in my dreamy weamies, so, like, it’s timey wimey for you to go bye bye~! (giggle!)”
No sooner had the annoyingly cheerful and high-pitched words left the whimsical girl’s mouth, than Penny released Oros’s foot and sent her flying off into the distance.
“Bye bye~!” Violet called out, while waving to the rapidly departing Oros, who was soon little more than a twinkling star on the far horizon. “Wowie zowie~! She looks so pretty witty nowie~! (giggle!)” the whimsical heiress observed with a delighted smile as she leaned forward on her tiptoes and placed a hand over her eyes to get a better look at the newest addition to the dream world’s firmament.
“And finally winally, rule number wumber threesie~!” Violet cheered, striking a cute pose and holding up three fingers. “All of my dreamy weamies always walways have a happy wappy ending wending~! (giggle!)”
After gleefully bouncing up and down a few times, she wrapped her best friend and girlfriend up in a big hug, while continuing to giggle with delight. “Like, thankie wankies for all the helpy welpy~!” Violet told them with a bright smile. “I wuv you both soooo muchy wuchy, and, like, having you as friendy wendies makes me sooo super duper happy wappy~! (giggle!) Like, I know you aren’t realsie,” she added, sobering slightly. “But, like, even weven if you aren’t actually wactually heresie, you’re both still with me in heresie~!” she declared, placing a hand over her heart. “And, like, that’s all that really matter watters~! (giggle!)”
With that, she gave her two favorite people one final embrace, before allowing the dream world to fade away. Empowered by the strength of her friends, Violet was confident that she would be able to face whatever new horrors awaited her. Indeed, despite all its unpleasantness, this experience had imparted many valuable lessons. Yes, it would truly be a nightmare to remember...
